all you ever wanted
by long time brother
Summary: regina / charming family (and hook the soon-to-be charming): Maybe all Regina actually needs is a family. One who will love her and do anything for her. Oh, well, looks like the Charmings are going to have to do.


**all you ever wanted**

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_'Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.'_

**David Ogden Stiers**

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Yeah, so maybe she's a little broken right now.

Okay, maybe _a lot_.

Regina can't even make herself feel angry anymore as she tries to summon the most hateful glare she can ever muster, directing it squarely at Emma who looks guiltier than Henry scoffing his birthday cake before his birthday party (that'd been a good day). No words are exchanged as the Charmings do their exchanging looks thing, glancing between each other worriedly and she thinks they probably think she'll go mental and start throwing apple pies or fireballs or both –

Snow breathes, "Oh, Regina," and it's when she puts a hand on Regina's arm that Regina feels the lump in her throat.

Fresh tears prickle at her eyes and Regina shakes her head, pushing off Snow's hand. "I'm fine," she says firmly and storms out into the cold, brisk night where the wind picks up, screaming bitter curses.

She wants to scream, she wants to howl, she wants to storm right back into the blasted café and maybe drag out Marian by her hair or Robin, she's not sure, right now. Regina lets out a breath and one lone tear trickles down her cheek, as she gazes up at the clear sky.

"You couldn't let me have one bit of happiness?" she demands to nobody as she roughly throws open the gate and begins to walk down the pavement. "Not—,"

"Regina!"

Regina chances a glance behind her although she's pretty sure she knows who it is. And ten points to her; the entire Charming family spills out of the café, Hook included because he's probably superglued himself to Emma's hip or something pirate-y like that.

She throws up her hands and turns around, hair flicking in the breeze. "Haven't you ruined my life enough?"

"Regina," David says, "we're—,"

"Don't you _dare_ say you're sorry," Regina snaps as the wind roars and her voice goes higher. "For the first time, I had someone who loved me! Who actually cared about me and brought me back and because of your _incompetence_," here, she throws a heated scowl towards Emma, "I've lost him. Now? I have nobody."

"That's not true, Mom," Henry breaks through and wraps his arms around Regina. "You've got me."

Regina bursts into tears, arms tightening protectively around her little boy and she shakes her head. "No, Henry," she sobs, "I lost you the minute you went off to find Emma. Heck, I lost you long before that."

And Snow pushes forward, her baby still in her arms, as she shakes her head firmly. "No, Regina," she tries to pull Regina into a hug. "You are _not_ alone—do you hear me?"

"I don't need your pity," Regina shakes back her hair and lets out a derisive laugh. "I don't need any of you—,"

"Yes, you do, Regina," Snow interrupts and she looks quickly at Henry who pulls away and pushes the baby into Regina's unwilling arms.

Startled, Regina's arms instinctively fold around the baby, arms forming a crook so the baby can rest peacefully. He gurgles in her embrace and an actual smile pushes at his lips as he gazes up at Regina. Wonder bubbles up in Regina as she, unable to help herself, smiles softly down at the baby, a small tear falling down onto his cheek.

"You need us," Snow says and David comes forward, a little awkwardly but nods. "And don't—don't say no, Regina, because you know what? You don't get to do this anymore."

Regina opens her mouth to retort but Snow, unusually firm (a mother, who's had her baby literally snatched from her arms and thrown into mortal danger, will be a little more scornful, you see), shakes her head and continues, "You do not get to swim around in your little pity party anymore because you are wrong. You have us. We are your _family_!"

"I killed your father!" Regina screams.

"And I killed your mother!" Snow screams back.

And they're both on the edge of tears but Snow's not done yet.

"You may have lost Robin,' she says, half glancing towards Granny's where, surprisingly, nobody's actually heard the argument, "but you've still got us, Regina. Do you hear me? You still have us! And we will _not_ let you fall!"

.

.

It's a little awkward.

The Charming apartment is too cramped right now so Regina, through gritted teeth and unwilling to let the baby who actually smiles at her without being forced, offers up her home. Emma refuses but Henry says, "Mom, she lives in a _mansion_."

So they're in Regina's mansion right now.

The Charmings sit in her sitting room as the atmosphere crackles with uncomfortable tension and Regina presses down her dress before offering dinner. The only people she's actually comfortable with is Henry, who bustles about in a normal fashion, as he hunts for cookies (god, she swears he is addicted) and the newborn baby who actually cried when he left her arms; Regina's not lying because damn, that felt _good_.

"Um, I don't have—how about I order pizza?"Regina coughs out and Snow's about to answer but there's a knock at the door.

Grateful to leave the awkwardness, Regina all but flies to the door and tugs it open without bothering to see who it may be. She regrets her decision a few seconds later and the lump in her throat's back because it's _Robin_.

It's Robin and all of the hurt, the pain, the torment comes flooding back.

It's Robin and she remembers kissing him like the stars were falling, she remembers the feel of Roland's chubby fingers gripping hers, she remembers his beautifully crooked smile as they glanced at each other over Roland's head—

"Regina," Robin begins and he looks like he's out of breath, "I need to—,"

Regina looks at him once more, feels her heart break, and swallows. "What you need to do," she says and she absolutely _loathes_ how her voice feels like it's cracking, "is go back to your family."

"Regina, please—I'm _sorry_—,"

"Regina?" Snow's voice rings down the hallway and Regina wonders if it's a special superpower the Charmings all have; how are they all able to have that annoying tendency to come in, at _exactly_ the wrong moment?

Regina resists the urge to roll her eyes and says, "Snow, go back inside—,"

"_Oh_," Snow interrupts and says, "Hi, Robin."

Those few words suddenly throw a rather strange feeling of gratitude into Regina as Snow's fingers find Regina's and squeeze comfortingly. For the first time, Regina feels reassured; she wonders, is this how the Charmings are? Do they usually push forceful protectiveness into their tone when talking to one outside their own?

"You shouldn't be here," Snow adds and this time, she sounds soft but there's a firm protectiveness in her tone as she pushes forward in front of Regina who is too stunned to protest. "Marian and Roland will probably be waiting for you."

Robin's initial surprise at Snow being there goes quickly but he tries to say, "I just wanted to—,"

"You have to go, Robin."

So he leaves.

And Regina breaks down.

And Snow comforts her.

_BA-BOOM!_

"Why didn't anybody tell me you're _not_ supposed to microwave grapes?"

.

.

Somehow, slowly, ever so slowly, without Regina actually noticing, the Charmings slide their way stubbornly into her home and into her heart.

It starts off with Hook accidentally blowing up her microwave and when he tries to apologise, Regina, still sobbing, sees the sticky grapes dripping over David's hair, Hook's leather coat and Emma's signature boots. Snow bursts out laughing and Hook's sheepish look pushes Regina to hysterical laughter.

Then the chaos doesn't actually seem to end.

They go shopping for baby clothes and Emma gets into an argument with a stubborn salesperson, David's occasional flashes of his Sheriff badge her backup. Snow tries to apologise to the manager when Hook accidentally slashes through a rack of baby clothes and Regina sits with Henry, eating ice cream and watching with a small smile on her face.

There's pandemonium in the mornings, the afternoons and especially the nights, where Snow pulls out the 'my baby was stolen by an evil witch' card and forces everyone to do something together.

Sometimes it's a movie night, Henry's choices of scary movies get shot down and Hook's confused commentating makes everyone throw popcorn at him. Sometimes they play Twister and Snow makes everyone laugh because she's short and can't stretch as far as everybody else and she's sure they're all conspiring against her. Sometimes they all go out walking, all eight of them, after Snow has made sure they're all wrapped up warmly and the sleepy town becomes accustomed to seeing the Charming family strolling down the roads with their heads held high.

Slowly, Regina begins to feel like she's a part of a family and the gaping crack in her heart begins to heal.

.

.

She sees Robin, of course.

It's dark at night and the Charmings have gone to the park, all drifting apart in their own little bubbles. David and Snow dreamily move towards a bench, making sure to keep Regina and the kids in view, while Hook and Emma drift off to the lake because Hook is addicted to water (her bills have gone through the roof). Regina sits, cross-legged on a bench, with the baby in her lap and Henry leaning against her, chattering about school and new characters he's seen and a t.v show where the town gets blown up.

She's wondering about the violence of the t.v show when there's a cough and her head shoots up. Henry falls silent and Regina feels him squeeze her arm comfortingly. She's found out Charmings like doing that. And the cinnamon. What is with the cinnamon, she'd like to know?

"Hey, Regina," Robin says and Regina stops thinking about how her spice cupboard is almost filled to the brim with far too much cinnamon and starts thinking about how the night breeze dances through his hair teasingly.

Swallowing tightly, Regina glances up at him. "Hello, Robin," she says and her tone is very formal. "How—,"

"Please," Robin shakes his head rather desperately, "please, Regina; don't do this—don't act so indifferent, please—,"

"Robin—," she begins and her voice floods with emotion.

"I just wanted to say, I'm so sorry and I can't think about all of this," he babbles. "I know it's been a week since—well, I just wanted to—I don't even—,"

"Regina?" Snow says and they're all there; Snow and David and Hook and Emma and the baby smiles sleepily up at her and Henry's squeezing her arm and immense gratitude falls into Regina. She throws terrified eyes up at Snow because _she_ _doesn't want this right now_.

Regina doesn't have the strength to talk to Robin right now, not when the wind blows his hair so nicely, when his eyes sparkle, not when she's not strong enough. She doesn't even know what he wants to say but something in her tugs soulfully when Roland calls for his father and Marian throws her a suspicious look—

"I'm sorry, Robin," Snow says and David's already picking up the baby; they're all moving away. "But we've got to get home. School night, you know?"

It's that night when Regina's trying to cry quietly that Snow creeps into her room with a mug of hot chocolate and Regina finds out what all the buzz with cinnamon really is.

.

.

She realises the next day, when everyone's in a chaotic rush as usual but still finding time to press warm smiles in her direction, that she's finally in the Charming Telepathic Clique.

When David's trying to avert suspicious questioning from Snow and Regina knows it's to do with her surprise birthday party, they exchange quick glances. In an instant, Regina's asking Snow if she's ever tasted her famous apple cider and David breathes a sigh of relief.

When Emma's furious yells aren't enough to get rid of the honking biker in front of her Bug, so they can't get an already late Henry to school quickly, they exchange glances. Regina gets out of her car and snaps at the biker who looks rightly terrified and zooms off when she says so.

The Charmings have fully moved into the mansion now.

Baby items scatter all over Regina's once pristine staircase, the toothpaste is always running out and there's an unmistakable scent of cinnamon that hangs in the air. The sitting room, so stiff and proper, is now filled with colour; bouquets of flowers hang around the room and the black and white decorating have been slowly replaced by bursts of warm colours. Her home is always a mess, the baby never stops crying and there's so many people traipsing through her home it's exhausting.

But it's a home now.

And Regina wouldn't give that up for anything in the world.

.

.

She sees Tinkerbell.

"Tinkerbell," Regina calls and the green fairy pauses, frowning before coming over to sit at Regina's table.

Regina pushes the pushchair, rocking it carefully, and summons a chair for Tinkerbell who sits. "I haven't seen you in a long time," she greets. "You look good."

"And you, too—you," Tinkerbell falters before tilting her head in thought. "You … look _different_."

Once upon a time ago, Regina would have furiously thought over every possibility of 'different', obsessed over the word and then raged against herself for being so pathetic. Once upon a time ago, that is.

"Different how?" she asks, still smiling.

"You look so much happier," Tinkerbell breathes and she smiles brightly now, the confusion falling away like water. "What's happened? Was it Robin?"

The pain strikes her quickly but Regina hitches the smile back up. "No," she shakes her head. "Robin has Marian now."

"No, he doesn't," Tinkerbell interrupts.

Regina skips a breath. "What?"

"They're getting a divorce," the green fairy supplies and tilts her head again, eyeing Regina carefully. "You're healed."

"Excuse me?"

"That's it," Tinkerbell murmurs more to herself. "Perhaps it wasn't true love that you needed, Regina. Maybe it was family love. I've been hearing about you and the Charmings—no, Snow insists you _are_ a Charming but—perhaps … yes, that's quite possible—,"

Eyes flicking down to the baby, Regina looks back up in confusion and shakes her hair back. "Tinkerbell," she says, "would you stop babbling and tell me what on earth you're talking about? In English, if you please."

Tinkerbell explains: _you have a family now, you are happier now, you have family love_. She stays until Snow and David come back from their date and accepts their invitation to stay for dinner and a game of Twister.

Regina swears fairy magic is involved when she falls to the floor after trying so hard to push her left foot onto the red circle. Henry laughs until he is red in the face and Regina tells him she'll hide the cookies once and for all if he doesn't stop laughing.

Haughtily, she pushes herself up and trips over a corner of the carpet, falling flat on her face.

The entire Charming family, including Tink, burst into raucous laughter.

(When she says, 'entire Charming family', she means herself and Hook included.)

.

.

"I can't do this anymore," a desperate Robin says and he presses his lips to Regina's.

Regina kisses him back just as urgently; the warm familiar taste of coffee and that irresistible scent of forest overwhelming her senses. This would be perfect, she thinks rather dizzily except—

Except it's Snow's surprise birthday party.

Except Marian's just coming in.

Except it's all just perfect anyway.

Maybe she doesn't need True Love anymore to heal her broken heart but she wants it, anyway. Regina's eyes flicker over to her family, who are cutting the cake and cheering her on, and she smiles into the kiss.

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**fin**

**A/N:** I felt so bad for Regina and don't get me wrong, I'm totally a Regina and Robin shipper still but I'd really like to think of the Charmings butting in and doing all they can for her.

I hope you enjoyed this and it wasn't confusing or anything! PM me if you have any questions or anything!


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